"Thousands of French, mostly young, demonstrated in Paris this week, demanding the government withdraw a law that would allow French companies to fire workers under the age of 26 who have less than two years on the job. The demonstrators apparently believe that an employers should not have the right to dismiss anyone. As you know, The Factor is boycotting France because I believe President Chirac is anti-American and helped Saddam Hussein stay in power. France and the USA have drastically different world views. France is an entitlement state, with guaranteed wages, jobs, retirement, health benefits, five weeks vacation, and on and on. With life guarantees, there is little incentive for individuals to work hard and push creative boundaries. Thus the French economy is stagnant and unemployment among young people stands at a whopping 22%. To be totally honest, I don't give a hoot about the French economy. The intriguing question is - will the USA become like France? The far left here loves the entitlement culture. Europe has embraced that system, the USA has not, and that angers radical left Americans. They want no uncertainty, they want security. Of course, someone has to pay for that security, and France can't. The French system will collapse, just wait and see. That should be a lesson for us all."

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Economist and author Jeff Faux joined The Factor with a ringing defense of the French system. "The productivity of the French worker is at US levels," Faux declared. "It's not true that you can't fire anybody in France, but almost every worker has a contract, and that contract spells out certain rights on the job. If you're not doing the job, you get fired - but you can't get fired for nothing. That's not true here where only the people at the top have contracts." The Factor argued that the French economy is on an inexorable downhill slide. "France is not going to keep up - the economy and the country are going to collapse. It doesn't have the workers to support the elderly. This is just the beginning of the riots over there, because those people feel the government owes them a living. In America we make our own livings."

Illegal immigration has jumped to the top of America's priority list, with demonstrations in the streets and pending legislation in Washington. Republican Senator Jeff Sessions questioned whether his colleagues will have the stomach to pass tough legislation. "It's troubling that you have people who apparently are here illegally protesting that we might enforce the law. We can not allow politics to undermine our ability to create a lawful system of immigration. We need barriers and more agents - that can make the difference."

Democrat Congressman Anthony Weiner presented another view, stressing the need to integrate illegals into society. "We have about ten million illegal people working in this country, and we need a process for dealing with them. If we set up a program to get people out of the 'grey economy,' we could more easily separate the terrorists and the people who shouldn't be here. We can't just put our head in the sand and say there are ten million illegal people, let's just throw them out of the country." The Factor urged all politicians to avoid being intimidated by the demonstrations in some US cities. "All of you guys on Capitol Hill are driving me and many Americans up a wall - you will not secure the borders. The Constitution says the military is there to secure the borders of the United States, but that is not even being debated. It's the fear that politicians have that they'll be branded 'racists' if they do not stop the flow. This is a natural disaster."

In some states, organizations representing defense attorneys are vigorously lobbying against mandatory minimum sentences for child molesters. Fox News analyst Craig Mitnick explained why. "Part of a defense attorney's ability to make money is to get charges downgraded, to cut deals for their clients. And judges, many of whom were once defense attorneys, feel that mandatory minimums are demeaning to them. But I believe mandatory minimum sentences make the system better." The Factor characterized this as a battle between good and evil. "You have to have a standard of justice, especially for the weakest among us, the children. But you have defense attorneys opposing this out of self-interest, and they give money to the politicians. These defense attorneys don't care about the kids or the justice system - this is craven. The folks have to know who the forces of darkness are."

Some members of the highly ranked Duke University lacrosse team may be in trouble with the law. A stripper who was hired to perform at a party claims she was beaten and sexually assaulted by players. Geraldo Rivera reported that the case has another explosive element - race. "Two strippers were told there would be five guys at a bachelor party, but all 46 members of the lacrosse team were there. One woman was taken to the bathroom, where she alleges she was beaten and raped by three men. The strippers were black, they say there were racial epithets thrown at them, and police say this is a racial incident. The players are refusing to testify against each another and the whole community in Durham is up in arms. The university is very embarrassed." The Factor added that any scandal is especially discomforting at Duke, considered one of America's elite schools. "Duke is a university that prides itself on running clean athletic programs and having high standards of admission."

Fox News Channel is known for its deep roster of talented female reporters, and The Factor is profiling some of the women of Fox News. Tuesday the spotlight was on Dayside host Juliet Huddy, whose father was a newspaper reporter in Florida. "I never even thought there was anything other than journalism," Huddy explained. "I had so many characteristics that my father had. He didn't force me, but I followed in his footsteps." The Factor teased Huddy about one of the early stops in her career. "Juliet's first job in television was at a station in California that her parents had bought! You will concede that you had a little bit of an advantage. If your parents still own the station, I may need a job someday."

Tulio Tourinho, Fort Bragg, NC: "I'm a Latino, a soldier and an American. I cannot approve of anyone breaking the law, regardless of origin."

John Jaeger, Honolulu, HI: "Mr. O'Reilly, so everyone who is here illegally should just get the hell out? When will you be going back to Ireland?"

Claire Rieger-Berk, Loma Linda, CA: "Mr. O, your immigration reform plan is the most appropriate conceptualization of the problem that I have ever seen."

Tim Cacahuete, Louisville, KY: "O'Reilly, I don't like you. This country was founded by illegal immigrants. So what if people come here and we have to pay for them?"

Jose Manuel Flores, Garden Grove, CA: "I was born in Mexico and cannot go into the center of the country without a permit. Mexico has strict border and movement laws. My family came here legally and that is the way to go."

Roger Gregory, Australia: "The left here went nuts when the government cracked down on illegal immigration. But it solved the problem."